AN: Sorry for the long, long wait. Writing takes me a long time and I had so much school stuff going on. Now it's summer and I graduated from high school (yikes) and I have the free time to put into writing this story and others too. Thank you for your patience!
Chapter IV
A Paper Hero
"We just don't torture people like we used to. It's sad," Azula remarks as she removes her hands from a washbasin.
Mai looks her up and down. Azula has just finished talking to that Kyoshi girl, and she seems rattled by it. Her nervousness is not on a level that most people would notice, but Mai knows her too well to miss it.
"Disappointing, I know," Mai replies. She does not care who is tortured, who is freed or who is a traitor; she cares exclusively about herself and it has treated her well over the years.
"Speaking of which," Azula says, turning to her stepmother. Mai already knows she is about to become an accomplice yet again. "Will you do me a favor?"
"Since you are not asking and that is simply a veiled order; yes, I will," Mai says and Azula smirks. Mai was not joking, but she will let the princess think that.
"It requires your little boyfriend."
"I'm not torturing Zuko."
"I thought you agreed?" Azula's eyes glitter with pure malice before she laughs. "No, that's not what I am asking. I am asking you to convince Zuko to do me a favor."
"You think I can do that? He's not that stupid."
"You severely overestimate my brother's wisdom."
"What do you need him to do, princess?" Mai uses the title naturally, even if she now outranks her best friend. She was never on the same level as Azula for the entirety of her life and their lifelong friendship, and so she never stops slipping up and forgetting her higher place as Fire Lady.
"I need him to torture Ty Lee."
"Why him?"
"Because I am going to rescue her from the torture. If I asked you to do it, I doubt you really could, and her friendship with you would make the situation complicated. I cannot ask any of my other underlings to do it because they cannot know my plans. I cannot ask my father or his council for… permission, and so Zuko seems to be the logical choice. Ty Lee has no attachment to him, and he cannot afford to openly question me or show the capacity to betray someone."
"That's brilliant. May I ask why you feel the need to torture and then rescue Ty Lee?"
"I need her devoted to me again. She has too many feelings for that rebel whore. In order to reclaim my rightful crown, I need to take risks and make bold moves. She is useful to me."
"I'll try to convince him."
"You will convince him. I won't accept trying."
x
Mai says to Zuko, "I need you to do something for me. It's to help you get your crown back."
"I have it back… mostly," he argues, furrowing his brow.
"Mostly. Azula is too weak to interrogate her prisoner. She has feelings for her or something. I need you to do it for her, and prove yourself. At least prove yourself to be better than her," Mai lies. It comes out so easily that she could do it in her sleep. Zuko believes every single word she says because her clothes are half-off.
"I've never tortured someone before. It sounds unpleasant."
"Unpleasant if you're the one being tortured," Mai says. She reaches for his muscular arm and he pulls away.
"You think it'll…?" Zuko does not dare to ask. He does not want to hear no.
"Yes," Mai says and he walks back to her.
She feels kind of like she is reeling in a fish.
x
Zuko's palms sweat as he walks into the cell. He sees the two promised assistants and the tools of torture. When he turns to his left, he sees a beautiful young woman strapped to a metal slab. Zuko takes a deep breath; he does not want to do this.
"Hi," Zuko says. That does not come out right. This is for his crown; he ought to do it right. "You've made friends with the rebels, haven't you? You were always friendly."
Is that taunting? Zuko is not sure if that is taunting or not.
"Why are you going to hurt me?" Ty Lee asks, batting her eyelashes. She has one way to escape this, and it is the only way she knows.
Zuko looks away from her kitten eyes and tries to figure out what the various instruments are supposed to do. One of the assistants nervously touches his hand.
"We can take care of this. You shouldn't get your hands dirty, your highness. You oversee and control," she explains and Zuko steps away from the weird knife.
"Of course. I knew that," Zuko says, stepping back and allowing the woman to carefully choose a blade. "I am here to ask you some questions."
"This would be so much better over tea, wouldn't it?" Ty Lee suggests, smiling widely at her captor. She hopes this works, oh, she hopes this works. "I'm happy to answer your questions."
Zuko does not know if that is true or not. He knows very little about the captured rebels, because no one involved him in the process or filled him in on the facts. His title means nothing and proving himself seems nigh impossible.
He has to be strong and prove that he has the capacity to rule the world with an iron fist.
"I don't trust you," Zuko says. It makes her expression fall, so he thinks it was the right thing to say.
"What is it you need?" Ty Lee asks quietly. Zuko says nothing.
He looks towards the door, and then pushes his reservations to the back of his mind.
This is what he must do.
x
Azula hears screaming. She thinks she might be just in time.
Quickening her face, she swiftly walks down the dirty stone hallway. She swings the door open and the interrogation session comes to a grinding halt.
Azula smells blood. To her surprise, Zuko does not look nervous or disgusted; he looks like he was born to properly rule an empire. That makes her stomach do backflips – he will not steal her throne. Before Azula can finish her thoughts about Zuko's threat to her reign, she hears her name and turns to see her first crush.
"Zuko," Azula says, "I will take this over from here; I am far more competent. Leave."
He studies her for a moment.
"No. I'm handling this perfectly fine without you, and I outrank you, so when I say leave, you are going to leave," Zuko says and Azula laughs.
"You are so funny when you act strong," Azula purrs. Ty Lee watches intently with a slack jaw. "Do you have father's permission to do this? Because he doesn't seem to think so."
Zuko's heart jumps into his throat.
"She's not going to break anyway. Have fun." Zuko waves and storms out.
Azula observes his exit, amused.
"You two," Azula says to the assistants, "also leave before I am forced to do terrible things to you."
They waste no time as they flee, leaving Azula and Ty Lee alone together.
Azula walks to her prisoner and examines her injuries. They are not pretty, but her face has been left alone. Princess Azula touches Ty Lee's burnt shoulder and Ty Lee whimpers.
"Don't…" Ty Lee whispers.
"I am not here to hurt you," Azula says softly. She kisses Ty Lee's cheek with perfect timing. "I am here to rescue you."
"Rescue me?" Ty Lee asks, incredulous. It does not seem like something Azula would do.
"Of course. I don't think you deserve this," Azula whispers. She unlatches the restraints hooked to Ty Lee, and then catches her prisoner when she stumbles and comes close to falling on her face. "I think you can get the normal life that you deserve. You were abandoned by your Nation and driven into the arms of terrible people."
"That's it? That's the only reason you want to help me?" Ty Lee asks, steadying herself by holding onto Azula's arm.
"No. It is not. I want you," Azula says and she can see Ty Lee slowly become tangled in her web of beautiful deceit. "So long as I want you, you will be safe."
Ty Lee loves the idea. She loves the idea of the most dangerous person she ever met protecting her from danger, but when she looks into Azula's eyes, she keeps thinking about the girl she has loved for so long. Suki gave her more than Azula could ever give her.
Is Ty Lee really so cowardly that she would take a cozy life over true love?
Is Ty Lee in love with Azula?
The feelings confuse her, but right now she just lets herself sink into the arms of the princess. For now, Ty Lee loves Azula with all of her heart, and she will try to stop worrying about Suki. Suki, who has no one to save her from this nightmare.
Ty Lee feels nauseous.
x
Ty Lee lies in a bath and thinks about the fact that she has accepted Azula's offer. She will be the princess's pet and she will abandon the life she built and friends she made. It makes her head spin. Maybe the hot water is just getting to her.
Azula walks into the room and Ty Lee does not move to hide or quickly get dressed. She does not mind if Azula sees her naked in the stone bathtub. She might even want that.
"How is your captivity treating you?" Azula inquires. She looks icy and regal, and so well-dressed. It terrifies Ty Lee so much that she changes her mind about hiding. Of course, there is no escaping now that Azula has knelt beside the bath.
"It's really nice," Ty Lee squeaks. She has lived in the dirt for what feels like a trillion years; the luxury of the Fire Nation makes her very happy. The price for opulence, however, makes her very sad.
"That's good," Azula says. She sounds so sweet but Ty Lee knows what terror lurks beneath her lovely words. "Would you choose this over your old life? If I were to offer your freedom to go wherever you want, or let you stay here, what would be your decision?"
"Staying here," Ty Lee says hastily. She does not know for certain, but she does know what she has to say to Azula.
"Oh, really?" the princess asks. She clearly does not believe her prisoner.
Ty Lee tries again. "I don't know. I haven't thought about it. Why do you ask?"
"Because you want to be mine, but you also want to be free," Azula whispers, calculatedly caressing Ty Lee's neck. "You can't be both."
Ty Lee kisses Azula on the lips.
"I want to be yours, and nothing more than that," Ty Lee whispers. She loves Suki still, but Suki is dead, and Azula saved Ty Lee from torture, and Ty Lee has to do something to save her skin. The Fire Nation has very little use for her now, and she does not mind the taste of the princess's lips.
Azula kisses Ty Lee on the lips.
She kisses her neck and then kisses her shoulders. Ty Lee takes the initiative to get out of the bath and avoid drowning. It would be a fun way to drown, but she does not plan on dying tonight.
On top of dragon-patterned tiles, Azula slides on top of her and kisses her lips. Her fingers find Ty Lee's breast; it feels so easy to cup within her hand. Her nipples hardens beneath the hot touch. Ty Lee croons soft cries of want that she cannot suppress. She does not think she wants to suppress them.
Azula feels her and learns that Ty Lee likes far more pressure and roughness and pain than she expected. The thought that Azula does not know Ty Lee anymore crosses her mind, but the sound of her prisoner moaning makes her forget.
Princess Azula does not need to know who she is pulling towards her, urging towards her core.
She does not need to know anything about Ty Lee to have a thrilling night.
x
Ty Lee sees the most beautiful flowers she has ever seen.
They are a few miles away from a town devastated by war. Bodies were stacked in the streets and the Kyoshi Rebels tried to give them a proper burial. They had to burn them all instead. But when Ty Lee walks away to get some air, she stumbles across a stunning array of flowers in a clearing.
The trees near them are burnt to a crisp, but they all live and remain.
Ty Lee walks into the center and sits down. The tallest ones rise above her head. She breathes them in and pretends she is in a world away from the war.
A hand rests on her shoulder and Ty Lee jumps, ready to fight.
It is Suki.
"It's beautiful, right?" Suki asks, sitting down beside Ty Lee.
"Really beautiful," Ty Lee says.
"You're really beautiful," Suki says and Ty Lee laughs. She is still giggling when Suki kisses her.
Their romance is so ridiculous and silly and it really is not meant to be.
They kiss again and again.
x
Suki wakes up in a cell.
Ty Lee wakes up next to a tyrant.